Nunhems pays attention to the entire chain in vegetable breeding

Every day 500 million people eat vegetables that originate from seed that was developed by Nunhems, recently owned by the German chemical company BASF. Seed breeding is a vulnerable and long process. From first idea to a market-ready new variety, it will take 10 years. For crops such as carrots, leeks and onions, it takes twice as much time, or even longer. Where the company used to focus on the grower's wishes, Nunhems now looks at the entire chain, including vegetable cutting plants, transporters, retailers and consumers.

The wish of the consumer has gained significantly more weight in Nunhems' breeding work. "For the cucumber it means that it will get more and different flavors or colors," says Anne Jancic, responsible for the marketing of the cucumber varieties. "In Europe, cucumbers are processed in salads and sometimes in soups, but the differences in each part of the world can be large, for example in the Middle East people eat the cucumber as fruit, even during breakfast." Through research we find out which cucumbers people would want in about 10 years. That is about taste, but also about size. "

The turnover of Nunhems Zaden has grown over the past 10 years from just over 200 million to over 400 million euros. Revenue growth is also expected for the coming years, director John Willems reports. "A large part of the world is abandoning a fairly one-sided diet, for example on the basis of rice, and is eating more vegetables." On the other hand, many people eat too much and unhealthy in the richer part of the world. to win with consumers who go easy, and compete with snacks and other unhealthy snacks. "

Editor's note: This article was originally published in Dutch. This English summary has been prepared with Google Translate and edited for clarity.